1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector for use in a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-148241 discloses a connector for use in a substrate. The connector has a housing and a fixing part is provided on the housing for mounting the housing on the substrate. The fixing part is inserted through a through-hole that penetrates through the substrate and is fixed to the substrate. More specifically, an expanding slot extends axially from the distal end surface of the fixing part and two legs are defined at the sides of the expanding slot. The legs are deformable towards one another and into the expanding slot. A lock projects at the distal end of each leg in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the fixing part. The locks slide in contact with the through hole and cause the legs to deflect into the expanding slot. Thus, the locks can penetrate through the through-hole of the substrate. The legs restore resiliently when the locks emerge from the through hole and the locks engage the back surface of the substrate.
The edge of the locking projection is formed on the entire periphery of each leg of the known connector. Thus, the entire edge of the locking projection slides in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the through-hole while mounting the housing on the substrate. This construction requires a high insertion force and imposes a burden on the operator. The edge of the locking projection could be removed to avoid this problem. However, the locking area of the projection for locking the housing to the substrate decreases more than a necessary amount, and there is a fear that a force required to hold the housing on the substrate decreases.
The invention was made in view of the above-described situation, and it is an object of the invention to decrease a force required to insert a connector into a substrate while maintaining a force required to hold the connector on the substrate.